Sunday, 1 November 2009

Cyclophobia in Sydney

This is a classic of journalistic rhetoric, is it not? And the media of the world’s most cycling-hostile societies (i.e. Canada, the USA, Britain, Australia and New Zealand) are full of such sentiments:

For motorists worried about losing their licences amid an orgy of fines, speed cameras, school zones, chicanes, speed humps, road closures, infinitely variable speed limits and a dizzying array of new signage, the growing band of entitled cyclists on painfully congested roads is simply the last straw.

In the London Borough of Waltham Forest these ‘inappropriate roads’ are known as ‘quiet routes for cyclists’ – and woe betide any cyclist who finds herself pedalling down one when a driver catches up with her. The blowing of a car horn and the screaming of obscenities are often the prelude to a determined attempt to use a ton of metal to force the cyclist aside and get past.